Riku and Sherry kept on walking.
The city was unlike any place Riku had ever been. The streets were clean and orderly, paved with smooth, dark stone that seemed to drink the light. The people were well-fed and moved with a sense of purpose. There was no sign of the famine that choked Luxia.
A street vendor sold sizzling skewers of some kind of roasted reptile meat. The heat for his grill came not from wood, but from a small, contained flame spirit that danced merrily in a metal cage.
Further down, a woman was haggling with a necromancer over the price of a reanimated servant. The skeletal figure stood patiently, its bony hands holding a large crate of produce. The negotiation was calm, practical, and a part of everyday life.
Children chased each other down the street, one of them followed by a small, clattering pet made of animated bones and spare parts. No one screamed. No one ran in fear.
